Review by Babs Simpson 11th June 09
Another R&J shortlist for Galaxy 2009
It is set in Berlin and covers the start of the 20th century, the first world war, the uneasy peacetime that followed and the outbreak of war in 1939 covering all aspects of those times, including the decadence of the 1920's.
Lilly Aphrodite is the illigitimate child of a cabaret singer who is put into an orphanage. Life there is hard but she makes friends with another girl, Hanne, who leads he into all sorts of mishcief. Eventually, Lilly has to leave and does several uninteresting jobs before ending up as maid to an eccentric Countess.
She is a startlingly beautiful child with enormous dark eyes and once outside the confines of the orphanage soon attracts the attention of men dfrom the steamier side of Berlin life, in particular a Russian emigre film director. Because of her looks, Lilly gets involved in the German film industry and is an instant success on screen.
While all this is going on, the political scene is changing and Hitler's influence is growing. The inevitable progression to war and the appalling atrocity of the concentration camps accompanies the story, almost incidentally, but is monetheless very affecting.
It is an excellent story on all levels, interesting, informative, very well written and absorbing.
I would thoroughly recommend it.
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